Jani's 152 puts Saurashtra in command; Kerala in danger of losing after taking lead

Kerala allowed Saurashtra to bounce back in style with Chirag Jani scoring a brave 152 off 204 balls on Day 3 of their Ranji Trophy fixture at Mangalapurm in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. Saurashtra were 351/5 when early stumps was called on the penultimate day due to bad light, with the lead stretching to 278 runs.

Kerala have only themselves to blame for the helpless situation they are in, as on Day 2, they had taken the lead for the first time this season. But Kerala's inability to mount a solid total in the first innings — going from 214/5 to 233 all out — in response to Saurashtra's 160, tilted the advantage in favour of the visitors.

Saurashtra began Day 3 at 47/1, trailing by 26 runs. M D Nidheesh trapped Jay Gohil (24) leg before and fellow-pacer N P Basil castled Sammar Gajjar (31), who stepped out to bat when play resumed.

But the hosts could not make further inroads and have allowed the visitors to stretch their lead to 86 runs at lunch, with Arpit Vasavada (49) and Chirag Jani (47) in the middle. Shortly after the break, the batters got their fifties. The fourth-wicket partnership lasted 174 runs and ended with the dismissal of Vasavada (74) by Baba Aparajith.

Jani had reached his century and was in no mood to slow down as Saurashtra appear determined to turn a match they were playing a save at one point into an unlikely win.

Mohammed Azharuddeen-led Kerala, last season's runners-up, have been on a poor run, suffering an innings defeat to Karnataka before conceding leads in the drawn matches against Maharashtra and Punjab.

Brief scores: Saurashtra 160 & 351/5 in 90 overs (Chirag Jani 152, Arpit Vasavada 74, Prerak Mankad 52 not out, NP Basil 2/46, MD Nidheesh 2/61) vs Kerala 233. Stumps on Day 3